


Bride of Corruption

by Dust_Bun



Category: Darksiders (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:09:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26851216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dust_Bun/pseuds/Dust_Bun
Relationships: Death (Darksiders)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 3





	Bride of Corruption

“To return man to the earth, will require a sacrifice” Came the crowfathers ancient and age worn voice. Placing a gentle hand on the reapers cold shoulder as he peered at the pieces of the accursed amulet that had embedded themselves in the reapers chest, glowing softly in the dim light of the well.

Whispers gently slipped out from the crystal. Free us. End this. Brother. Help us.

Traitor.

Death sighed heavily. Whether it was the words of those awful whispers. Maybe it was the fact he had literally just fought and killed the remnants of someone who had been his closest friend and ally during the nephilims height. Or perhaps it was just the weight of everything that had transpired. His brother’s imprisonment, the corruption, the fight with Samael and having to have a conversation with Lilith.

He looked down to the well and all the infinite amount of souls that swam in it’s ethereal waters until they were eventually thrown back into the universe. His gauntlet covered hand unthinkingly went up to the shards embedded in his chest.

They deserved freedom. Trapped in a shard for eons was surely more than enough to punish an entire race. Absalom was gone, it was he who had led them. Perhaps without the head of the snake the horde could be trusted? Led down a different path?

But then again. Did the humans not deserve their lives? To have had them cut short so quickly, to have their entire race ended by being caught up between a war they could not possibly prepare for.   
And of course there was War, who had ironically been caught up in a war even HE wasn’t prepared for and could not possibly win. Did Death not owe him his freedom? To have his name rightfully cleared? Was it not his job as War’s older brother, to keep him safe, to defend him. Had it not always been this way, since he had been bestowed his brother as a small white haired bundle.

Stepping up onto the brink of the platform above the well, the reaper brought his hand to his mask. The infamous mask that had sat upon his face for eon’s. The barrier between him and the rest of the world. A protective layer between who he was now and who he had been all those years ago.

No one living or dead had seen his face since the day of the genocide. Even his brothers. He was sure it had been so long since they had seen him without the mask that they probably forgot what he looked like without it. It was who he was now. 

He clasped his hand around the thinnest part of his mask and pried it off of his face with an audible crack. The coldness of the air suddenly hitting the skin that had been covered for eons was like a bolt of electricity through his body.  
He snapped his arm to the side and gently tossed his mask into the crowfathers waiting hands. This was it. The end of the journey. The end of his people. Possibly even the end of him.What would it be like? If he went with the rest of the souls, would they accept him? After all he had done to them, he wasn’t even sure he deserved it.

Taking a deep breath, the reaper tilted forward, prepared to feel himself starting to fall.

“Reaper?” Came a soft voice from behind him, sending a shockwave through his whole system, almost sending him toppling over the side. As if he had just been punched, Death took a shaky step back down onto the platform. Somehow Harvester had called itself to his hand without him even realising. The giant scythe sat in his hand and allowed him to use it as some sort of anchor, to steady himself as he turned to face the voice.

Impossible.

That was all that came to his mind as she stood before him like a beacon of the past. Unchanged from when he had last seen her. Like a moment frozen in space and time, brought forth to taunt him in his final moments. Golden hair flowing like sand in desert winds. Skin as dark as fertile earth. Wings brighter than the sun and longer than harvester was tall. And a mask the sat snugly on half of her face, hiding her eyes from his view.

“Reaper? My reaper, is that you?” She asked tentatively, her voice cracking as though she strained to stop herself from crying. Death did not answer the being in front of him. Not sure whether she was a being of corruption or some sort of apparition the well had conjured from the souls embedded in his chest.

“Do you not recognise me? Has it truly been that long that you have forgotten my face?” She asked painfully, tentatively taking a step towards him, stepping over the pool of blood and corruption that had spilled from Absalom’s corpse. “I recognise a trap when I see one.” Death sneered, without his mask the fangs he revealed glinted blue in the ambient light while he tightened his grip on harvesters haft. The being paused in her movements, staring at him for a long moment. Assessing him and planning her next move most likely.

When she started to laugh however, Death would admit he was taken aback. Shoulders jostling happily as her wings ruffled and flared slightly as she laughed. “Oh Death, you always were the suspicious one. How I almost forgot, you would think I would remember after how you acted towards me during our early years.” She said snidely before taking a few more steps forward. Stopping only when the blade of harvester came within a hair's breadth of her neck as he glared at her with enough ferocity you would think he was trying to kill her with his eyes.

“Very well my reaper. You have taken your mask off to speak with me, I will extend you the same courtesy.” She said calmly, reaching up and mimicking what the reaper had done only moments before and gently pulled the mask off of her face, holding it gently in the palm of her hand. She looked at him with a small smile, her eyelids shut tight but still surrounded by scarring that he knew all too well. “Remember me now Death?”

The reaper scowled, pulling harvester back to his side for him to lean against. This was a trap of course, it had to be. And yet, he couldn’t help but let his eyes scour her face, gentle as it always was, presence as warm as it always had been. He had seen odder things during this adventure. “I killed you, I saw you die.” He stated as his gaze shot to her neck. Where a massive scar should have been if she had healed herself after- “I beheaded you Time.” He finally admitted to her.

“I’m well aware. But Absalom-” Time cast her gaze down towards the hulking corpse not far from them “He would not let me die. When he became the corruption, he pulled my soul with him. I failed in my duties and he would not let me rest.” She said mournfully, turning her mask over in her hand “I would be the fuel for his engine of destruction, through me, he could see the paths to take that would lead him to victory.” She continued, turning and walking away from Death and toward the lip of the platform.

“Why didn’t you free yourself?” He asked as he followed after her, standing at her side as they stared down at the souls. Time laughed sadly, shaking her head gently “Corruption is not so easy to overcome. Once it takes hold of your heart, it takes root and cannot so simply be pulled out.” She stated sadly.

Death hissed when the souls suddenly decided to make themselves known once more. Hissing their insults at him as he had come to expect. But a few did something he did not expect. They whispered in welcome, beckoning a sister they had long since thought they had lost. “Death…” she spoke softly, to the point that if you stood a foot away from her you wouldn't have heard.

Death looked up at his name and came eye to eye, in a way, with Times smiling face. When had she turned towards him? “You saved them…” She said with a warm smile, reaching out gently and brushing her fingers over the shards, flinching back when a bit of magic lashed out at her. “The council demanded I collect the souls… and then destroy them” Death said grimly, turning his gaze over to the cloth wrapped on harvesters haft, pulling at it absentmindedly.

“You did one half of your deal, why not the other?” She asked him, looking to the reaper who was very obviously avoiding her gaze. Death however did not answer.

Time took one final step closer to him, meaning now she was practically an inch away from him. When the reaper chose not to take notice, Time furrowed her brows, but smiled nonetheless. “Creator, you are stubborn.” She snorted almost playfully. Death looked at her out of the corner of his eye while cocking an eyebrow “Took you dying to realise that?” He snapped, however it held no venom. He turned his attention back to his weapon, when a hand was gently placed on his cheek. A little force tried to turn him to face her, and he chose not to fight it.

Death looked down at Time, whose neutral face greeted him with her normal warm energy. Another hand slipped onto his chest, laying over the shards that contained the soul of his entire race. “Death, we can save them. All of them. Together. Save our race from imprisonment. Save your brother from his framed fate. They do not have to suffer. You have the power to save them.” She whispered like one of the souls in his chest.

Death slipped a hand from harvesters haft and gently placed it on the small of her back as the hand on his face gently traced along his features, Time smiling as she did so. “Even with that mask you still manage to gain new scars.” She said with a chuckle to lighten the mood, cocking her head as she looked at him. “Stay with me Death. We can do this. I know it. I have waited for eon’s to be free of him. Now here I am. And here you are. We are together once more. Can’t you see-” She moved her hand from his chest up to his other cheek to gently cup his face. “This was meant to happen. We were meant to do this. Together.” Her voice broke at the last part, a degree of desperation in her voice.

Death wished he had his mask. To her, he could not keep his face impartial. His demeanor softened as he slipped his hand up from her back, gently grazing her wings and shoulder, to lovingly cup her face. “In my life, I have few regrets. For everything I have done, has always had a reason behind it. And one I could justify beyond all odds. But this?” his other hand slipped off of harvester, leaving it to stand free, as he gently grazed the shards. “The genocide? Absalom? You? These are a few of the things that have haunted me. Things I have often thought about over and over and over again. Of things I could have done differently. Paths I could have taken to save our people. To save you.” He admitted as he tilted her head up to face him.

“I would have done anything to bring you with me.” He said as he leant down towards her, pressing his forehead against her own, appreciating the small hum of satisfaction she let out. “Well I’m here with you now, and I will not leave you once more Death.” She assured, a small smile creepy across her lips.

Death, ever so gently, pressed his lips to her’s. A small gasp from Times lips made him smile inwardly. How long it had been. Her hands slid down from the sides of his face to wrap around his neck as she pulled herself towards him, Death wrapping a hand around her waist to support her. He pulled back for a moment, staring down at the breathless being in front of him. She was the same as she always had been… But she was quite right. The sand that spilled down her cheeks in a never ending stream was not the gold it should have been. But was instead as black as the reapers hair. Her pristine golden wings were not that any longer. Instead they had black blotches across the feathers, gold crystals pushing out of her skin. 

“I hope you can forgive me.” He muttered as he cocked his head slightly, black hair spilling down across his shoulder. “Of course I c-” Time began, before a wet gurgling crawled from her throat. Her mouth opening and closing, as if to form words she could not get out. Her eyes snapping wide open, the black pits within staring up at him blankly in shock and betrayal. Her wings spasmed as she could no longer hold herself up, leaning desperately against him. “I’m sorry. I truly am.” He muttered quickly and quietly as he held her, pulling harvester out of her side as he cradled her close. 

He stayed like that until she truly came to rest. Her body stopped spasming and shit went limp against his chest. He cradled her until the warmth left her body. He cleaned the blood spots off of her lips and face which had dirtied her face when she had coughed her last breaths. She hated being dirty, always had. He would do her that little justice.

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there with her. Truly he didn’t care. But the Crowfathers appearance once more pulled him out of his stupor. “She has passed Reaper. Her soul transferred into the amulet. She is with your brethren now. And if you wish to truly free her and your brother, I suggest you do so now.” He said snidely, gesturing back towards the well.

Death sighed heavily, looking over to where the old ghost gestured, the down to the woman in his arms. He was right of course, but Death would not admit that to him. Turning that direction, he slipped his free arm beneath her legs to cradle her against him as he walked. He wouldn’t leave her here. Not alone. Not with absalom.

Death took to the lip of the platform with solemn determination. At Least if he was not brought back after this. He would know he had saved War. And he had saved her. 2 Weights off of his soul. It wasn’t much, but to him, it was the world.


End file.
